Sun Ra, whose real name was Herman or Sunny" Blount, grew up in Birmingham, Alabama in the 1920s and 30s, living within sight of a huge sign welcoming Birmingham visitors to the Magic City." It's a prophetic sign in the Sun Ra legend, for Herman Blount--who was named by his mother after the popular vaudeville magician Black Herman-- went on to become a sort of musical wizard, staging shows with dancers, wild lighting, musicians dressed in space costumes, sermons on far-ranging topics, and music that drew on hardbop, big-band, and free jazz, with chanting, electronic keyboards, shrieking saxophones, and a wide array of unusual musical effects that resulted in what he called cosmo dramas"...
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Second Magic City: Sun Ra in Chicago
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'Early Jazz,' A New Book by Fumi Tomita